Water-wheel



(No Model.)

M I. MARTIN. WATER WHEEL.

Patented Apr. 24, 1883.

U ITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MICHAEL I. MARTIN, OF FORT WAYNE, INDIANA.

WATER- .WHEEL.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 276,442, dated April 24,1883.

I Application filed January 15, I883. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern 7 Be it known that I, MICHAEL I. MARTIN, acitizen of the United States, residing at Fort Wayne, in the county ofAllen and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Water -,Wheels; and I do hereby declare the following tobe a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as willenable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to lnake and usethe same, referring to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof,in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation,partly in section, Fig. 2 acentral vertical section,- and Figs. 3, 4, 5, and 6 are details of awaterwheel constructed in accordance with my invention.

Likelettersrefer tolikepartsinallthefignres.

A A represent in part any suitable foundation, upon which journal orhearing blocks B 13 rest, in which blocks'a horizontal shaft, 0,rotates. A belt-pulley, O, is fixed to the shaft and rotates therewith.

The water-wheel proper comprises, in this instance, four radialchambers, D, E, F, and G; but, ifdesired,thenumber ofchambers may beincreased. Each of the chambers is rectangular in cross-section andV-shaped at its inner end, and all are arranged about the shaft 0 at aright angle thereto, and in this instance, there being four chambers ata right angle to each other. A-sleeve, 0 (see Fig. 3,) may be formed atthe inner ends of the chambers, and thus strengthen the connection ofthe same to the shaft 0; or the chambers may be keyed at one side, as atC to the shaft, in order that they shall revolve therewith. The chambersmay be constructed of cast or sheet metal, or any other suitablemateriahand separately or in one piece or casting; and, if preferred,openings may be formed in the walls of the V ends of the chambers, toprovide direct communication from one to the other. At the outer or freeend and at one side of each chamber is a discharge-opening, over which agate, D, E, F, and G, respectively, is adapted to slide, being retainedin proper position by cleats d or it may be by grooves formed in thewalls of the chamber, or by the pressure of the water within thechamber, in which latter case the gates would be pivoted to the wall,instead of sliding, as shown. Each of the gates is connected by a link,h, to an inner arm, h, of a shaft, H, passing transversely throughthechamber, and journaled in its sides, and provided with an outer arm,W, to which is pivotally secured a rod, it passing through a guide, h,fastened on the outside of the chamber. If preferred, the shafts H neednot extend entirely across the chambers, but may merely pass through oneof the sides thereof, to communicate motion from the arm 71. to the armh. By this modification there is less liability to retain floatingsubstances within the chambers. To further overcome this liability, theshaft H, with its arm h and the link h, may be mounted upon the outsideot'the chamber, the latter in such case being connected to the outsideof the gate andnear its outer edge, so thatnothing would be locatedwithin the chamber to obstruct the passage of the water or floatingsubstances therein. One side of the inner ends of the chambersconstitutes a flanged ring, I, (see Figs. 5 and 6,) and this may beeither secured by bolts to the chambers or cast in one piece therewith,in which latter case the flange or rabbet :i would be formed separatelyand secured to the ring by bolts, in order to permit the insertion of adead-plate, J, which is rigidly secured to the bearing 13 by brackets jj, and is bored cen trally to form a bearing, j, in which the shaft 0rotates. At one side of the bearingj is an opening, K, for the admissionof water into the chambers, in a manner hereinafter described. Thedead-plate is also provided with a flange, j, (see Fig. 6,) adapted tofit the flange 'i of the ring I, and with a groove-cam, L, which forabout one-third of the circumference of the plate is concentrictherewith, and is then contracted to gradually approach toward and passconcentrically about the center thereof. The inner-ends of the rods kare adapted to ride in the groove of the cam L, and for this purpose maybe provided with the usual antifriction rollers.

From the above description it willgbe seen that the chambers and shaftmayzrevolve together as one piece, the bearings for the latter beingtheblocks B B, and those of the former being the block B and thedead-plateIJfthe immediate latter bearing-surfaces being the flanges ijFrom any suitable source of supply water is conducted by a pipe throughthe opening K into the chambers as they pass the same, the dead-plate Jforming the sides ot'the chambers at and about the opening K. The waterfreely enters each chamber as it arrives opposite said opening. As itenters a chamber]), for instance-the weight of the water therein causesit to drop or revolve to a position directly below the shaft. Thismovement brings the chamber E opposite-the opening; and it, alsobecoming filled, likewise revolves. At. this point provision is requiredfor relieving the chamber D of at least a portion of the weight of thewater therein, in order that it may not counteract the full effect ofthewater entering chamber E, and for this purpose the contour of the cam Lis such as to draw the rod 71. toward the shaft G, and thus open thegate D at the time the chamber reaches a vertical position beneath theshaft,'and to retain the gate in open position until the chamber reachesa horizontal position directly opposite that at which it started. Itwill be noticed that when a chamber is receiving water its gate is at orin its upper side, and when discharging water its gate is at or in itslower side, thus utilizing its functions of retention and discharge atthe most advantageous positions which it assumes during the revolutionof the chamber. During each revolution of each of the chambers its gateis thus operated and the reception and discharge of water produce arevolution of the entire series of chambers or the wheel proper, andthis motion may be by a belt on pulley O, or by suitable connectionswith the shaft 0, communicated to any desired machinery for practicalpurposes.

Having described my invention and its operation, what I claim as new,and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A water-wheel comprising a horizontal shaft, a series of chambersarranged about the same, a dead-plate fixed to one of the shaftbearings,and means located within the circumference of the wheel for successivelyopen- 4 5 ing and closing gates located at the outer ends of thechambers, substantially as shown and described.

2. In a water-wheel, the combination of a horizontal shaft, a series ofchambers having inner V-shaped ends, a dead-plate provided with abearing-flange and secured to the shaftbearing, and with a cam-grooveand inlet, and gates located at the outer ends of the chambers, andmeans for operating the gates, substantially as specified.

3. The combination of the shaft G, chambers D, E, I ,and G,provided withgates D, E, F, and G, rods h, shafts H, having arms h h rods hdead-plate J, having cam L and open- 6o ing K, the bearing B andbrackets, j j, substantially as shown and described.

4. The combination of the shaftO and chamhers D, E, F, and G, providedwith the flanged ring I, with the dead-plate J, having the flange j andsecured to the bearing B, substantially as specified.

5. The combination of the shaft 0 and the chambers D E F G, adapted torotate therewith, and provided with gates, with the 0 fixed dead-plateJ, provided with a cam, L, the transverse shafts H, having inner andouter arms, h M, and mechanism connecting the cam shafts and gates,substantially as shown and described.

6. The combination of the shaft 0, bearing B, and dead-plate J, securedto the hearing by brackets arranged inside of the cam L, substantiallyas specified.

In testimony whereof I affix my signaturein 8o presence of twowitnesses.

MICHAEL I. MARTIN.

Witnesses:

HUGH MODEIHL, JOHN SoHRoEDER.

